'They beat me and forced me into a coffin'

"What have you done to my son? Tell me what you have done to my son?"

These were the words of Victor Mlotshwa's mother, Lonea Mlotshwa, who bolted into the High Court sitting in Middelburg yesterday just moments after her son rushed out in tears, unable to contain himself during his testimony.

Mlotshwa's mother, who is also due to give testimony, had been sitting outside the court when her son testified how he had feared for his life when two men picked him up on the side of the road, assaulted him and forced him into a coffin, threatening to burn him in it.

The attack happened on August 17 2016 at the JM De Beer Boerdery farm near the Komati Power Station.

"Accused number two [Theo Jackson] unloaded a coffin from his bakkie. I was so scared. I didn't know what to say. He opened the coffin. That is when accused one [Willem Oosthuizen] told me should I run away he will shoot me," Mlotshwa said via an interpreter.

He saw a gun at Oosthuizen's waist.

"After the coffin was opened, [Jackson] instructed me to get into the coffin. I refused. That is when they both started assaulting me again. [Jackson] produced a knobkerrie which looked like it had a bolt on the end. [He] assaulted me with it," Mlotshwa said.

"I kept asking what I had done but there was no response.

"I thought it best I get into the coffin. I could no longer bear what was happening to me," he said.

"I got in but not with my whole body. Just the lower part . [Oosthuizen] then started kicking, forcing me to go in with my entire body. [Jackson] then came with the lid of the coffin. I tried to stop him from closing the lid by placing my hands on the edges. One of them, I'm not sure who, said petrol should be poured into the coffin," he said.

Mlotshwa had seen a container filled with petrol and had feared this would be the end.

"I was so scared. I was crying and shivering. I was begging and pleading for them not to do what they wanted to do.

"I was under the impression that they wanted to kill me. I was resisting. I was pleading and crying as one of my hands was still outside the coffin," he said.

He broke down and cried in the courtroom, resulting in the proceedings being adjourned.

But that is when things got heated in courtroom H.

"They were busy laughing as though they have done nothing wrong," said one person who was seated in the court gallery.

"They will rot in hell. God will punish them," shouted another.

The court orderlies attempted to restore order while the families of the accused rushed to the front of the court, distancing themselves from the crowd, which was getting angrier and louder.

Mlotshwa's mother then walked into the courtroom wailing, her hands on her head.

The two accused watched her with no expression on their faces.

When proceedings resumed a few minutes later, Prosecutor Robert Molokoane requested a postponement, alluding to the safety of the accused and court officials.

Molokoane told Judge Segopotje Mphahlele that security would be tightened today, adding that 20 police officers would be deployed.

As proceedings adjourned, Jackson and Oosthuizen, who are out on bail, were led down below the court to the cells.

Once the court gallery had cleared, they, along with their families, returned to the courtroom and left a short while later.

The two men were arrested and charged in connection with the attack on Mlotshwa and another man, Delton Sithole.

Sithole claimed Oosthuizen and Jackson had assaulted him too, but let him go when they saw Mlotshwa, and pounced on him instead.

They had accused Sithole of trespassing on the farm because he used a footpath leading to a nearby informal settlement.

The two accused were caught after a video of the attack on Mlotshwa, reportedly shot by one of them, went viral.

In it, Mlotshwa was seen in the coffin, begging for his life.

Mlotshwa returns to court today where he is expected to continue giving testimony.